Interim chief selector of the Pakistan cricket team Shahid Afridi recently made a statement on national TV saying that batters who do not have a strike rate of 130-135 plus will not be selected for the T20I team.
Afridi said that this was the criteria that he was setting for domestic batters if they want to become eligible to play for Pakistan in T20Is. This has come after criticism of the Pakistan batters' strike rate in the shortest format and it became evident during the T20 World Cup.
Speaking to Samaa TV, Afridi said that he has had discussions with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and coach Saqlain Mushtaq on several critical matters and selection criteria was one of them.
"Batters will no longer be selected in T20s for Pakistan who have a strike rate below 130-135 in domestic cricket," Afridi said during the interaction.
However, this became fodder for trolls on social media saying that if this rule is applied without any bias, two of the best batters of Pakistan Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan won’t be available for selection in the Pakistan team.
Both Babar (127.5) and Rizwan (126.6) have a strike rate of less than 130 and many suggested that the captain, especially might face an axe soon from the format.
Here are some of the best reactions to Afridi’s statement:
